1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel (PDP), and more particularly, to addressing operations of a PDP.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a PDP, a plurality of discharge cells arranged as a matrix are interposed between upper and lower substrates that face each other. Discharge electrodes including scan electrodes and sustain electrodes for generating a discharge between them are formed on the upper substrate, and a plurality of address electrodes are formed on the lower substrate. The upper substrate and the lower substrate are bonded together to face each other, a predetermined discharge gas is injected between the upper and lower substrates, and phosphors coated in the discharge cells are excited by generating a predetermined discharge pulse between the discharge electrodes so as to generate visible light, thereby realizing a desired image.
In order to realize gradation (e.g., colors, gray levels, or brightness) of images in the PDP, an image frame is divided into several sub-fields each having a different light emission level, thereby performing time-division driving of the PDP. Each of the sub-fields is divided into a reset period to uniformly generate discharges, an address period to select discharge cells, and a sustain period to realize gradation of images according to the number of discharges. In the address period, a kind of auxiliary discharges are generated between the address electrodes and the scan electrodes, and wall voltages are formed in the selected discharge cells so as to form a suitable environment for sustain discharges.
In general, in the address period, a higher voltage is required for an address discharge as compared to a sustain discharge. Reducing an input voltage (that is, the address voltage) for addressing and ensuring a sufficient voltage margin are essential for improving the driving efficiency of the PDP and for increasing discharge stability. Moreover, with the development of display devices such as full-HD resolution devices, the power consumption required in a circuit board increases as the number of address electrodes allotted for discharge cells is increased in proportion to the number of discharge cells. In addition, a high xenon (Xe) display, in which a partial pressure of Xe in the discharge gas injected into the inside of the PDP is increased, has high luminous efficiency but requires a relatively high address voltage for firing a discharge. Thus, in order to realize a high-efficiency PDP display, a sufficient address voltage margin should be provided.